Miles Russell is heading into the 2026 U.S. Open as the youngest player in the field, and he got there the hard way. The 17-year-old Florida State commit earned one of the final two spots out of a three-man playoff, a finish that sent him from qualifier to major-championship starter at Shinnecock Hills.
That is why his name is drawing attention now. Russell is already the No. 1 junior player in the world, but this week puts him in a different setting entirely: his first start in a major championship, on a course that last staged the U.S. Open in 2018. For a player born in 2008, the scale of the moment is part of the story.
Russell’s path to get here also helps explain why the result matters. In 2024, he became the youngest player in Korn Ferry Tour history to make a cut, and he finished T-20 in that event. He has already shown he can hold up against older, more established players, even before reaching the major stage.
The one thing that does not fit the usual golf narrative is how little of this stage he remembers from childhood. Russell said he does not really recall watching U.S. Opens when he was little, adding that his earliest golf memory from watching was maybe Spieth in 2015 at the Masters, while his first real memory of major championship golf was Tiger in 2019. That makes this week feel less like a return to a familiar scene than an entrance into one he mostly knew from highlights.
Charlie Woods caddied for Russell during the qualifier, and both have committed to play college golf at Florida State. For Russell, the next step is straightforward enough: Thursday brings his first major-round tee time, and the test is no longer whether he belongs in the field but how far his game can carry him once he is there.
